At Search Institute, we believe that every young person deserves more than just support. They deserve to be seen, heard, and valued as co-creators of their own futures. That’s why we don’t just design for youth, we design with youth.

Designing for youth means building stronger environments, deeper relationships, and more equitable opportunities. But designing with youth takes it one step further: it means bringing them into the process from the very beginning and ensuring their lived experiences, perspectives, and ideas shape the research, tools, and strategies intended to support their development.

This isn’t about adding a quote from a young person at the end of a report. It’s about authentic partnership. While much of our applied research focuses on improving the settings and systems that affect youth, some of our most impactful work emerges when young people join us as collaborators.

In our long-standing partnership with TrevorSpace, a digital community for LGBTQ+ youth, we worked alongside a youth leadership team to reframe the narrative from risk to resilience. They shaped research questions, adapted our Developmental Assets framework to reflect strengths of their online community, and guided interpretation, ensuring the work reflected scientific rigor and lived experience.

In a National Science Foundation-funded project focused on math engagement for Black and Latino high school students, youth and educators co-created research tools, facilitated interviews, and participated in analyzing the data. This participatory approach led to findings that were not only relevant but truly actionable.

We carry this philosophy into our partnerships as well. In collaboration with organizations like Good Trouble and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, we are co-developing processes that enable youth to not just participate in focus groups but to lead them. These intergenerational efforts foster mutual learning, blending youth-driven vision with adult guidance and support.

This mindset also shaped our Student Voice Toolkit, a resource designed to help educators shift from passive listening to active engagement. Informed by real stories from youth, the toolkit shows what authentic voice looks like, and what it doesn’t. Voice is not simply a comment box or survey, it’s a structure for collaboration and change.

Why does this matter now? 

Because young people are growing up in a time marked by uncertainty and change. Yet, adolescence remains a time of discovery, identity formation, and creativity. If we fail to create spaces where young people can explore, contribute, and lead, we not only stifle their development, we also miss out on their insight, innovation, and energy.

When young people see their ideas reflected in the tools adults use, when they co-lead projects that impact their communities, and when their voices influence systems and structures, their sense of agency grows. And so does our collective ability to build environments where youth can thrive. 

At Search Institute, designing with and for youth is how we move from research to relationships, and from insight to impact. Because when youth thrive, we all thrive.